moving over to a Motorhome again
Having recently sold our caravan we are lookng at returning to holidaying in a motorhome. Our move is due to family circumstances and having had many years touring all over France in our last motorhome, we are looking forward to choosing the best vehicle
for our lifestyle.
K 
Comments
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Hi Pliers, we are starting our search this coming weekend. there are quite a few dealers within 60 miles of our location. I fancy something a bit smaller than our last M/h and will be looking at smaller coachbuilds and PVC's. There is no hurry as the season is nearing its end, but it is also a good time to get a good bargain ..With no tradein there will be bargains to be had.
K
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Have a look at East Neuk. The build quality is superb. Not flash and apparently very basic but with design quality and build integrity in spades and everything you actually need. As evidence of their drivability I drove from Debrecen in Eastern Hungary
to Northern Scotland in three days.Best of luck with your quest wherever it may take you.
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There are some good deals to be had on pre registered Auto-Sleeper motorhomes but you have be prepared to barter.
I bought a pre reg without trade in a few months ago from Marquis with 3 year warranty. I know Marquis haven't got the best reputation but with Auto-Sleeper you can go back to the factory service dept if necessary. I have owned 6 AS motorhomes over the years mostly coach built but as I now travel alone I have bought a small panel van conversion.
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Can i ask what the issues with marquis are? I have just bought a van from them and awaiting a collection date
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Glad to hear your situation may have improved slightly K, best of luck with your search and hope you find what you want at the price you want... Good hunting......
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When we bought our last m/v it was from Marquis but the after sales was awfull ,as they are a large company with several outlets ,it might just have been that branch,
Ps i think they are in some form of financial tie up with Autosleepers
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not a fan of AS (design/style way too 'old') but give Marquis credit, they have brought Benimar back to the uk and are doing the same with Mobilvetta (lovely A-class vans) this coming season....
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Hi Pliers, we are starting our search this coming weekend. there are quite a few dealers within 60 miles of our location. I fancy something a bit smaller than our last M/h and will be looking at smaller coachbuilds and PVC's. There is no hurry as the season
is nearing its end, but it is also a good time to get a good bargain ..With no tradein there will be bargains to be had.K
K, if a PVC, fixed bed or not....?
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Hi Pliers, we are starting our search this coming weekend. there are quite a few dealers within 60 miles of our location. I fancy something a bit smaller than our last M/h and will be looking at smaller coachbuilds and PVC's. There is no hurry as the season is nearing its end, but it is also a good time to get a good bargain ..With no tradein there will be bargains to be had.
K
...A look at Auto Sleepers PVCs is worth it as they are biult on minibus body which are much better than the bog standard "white van" conversion
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it depends if you want proper MH windows or not....
the AS vans come with only single glazed athermic glass, not double glazed insulated glass which you get with every other converter...
the darkened glass also means a lot less light into the van....
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it depends if you want proper MH windows or not....
the AS vans come with only single glazed athermic glass, not double glazed insulated glass which you get with every other converter...
the darkened glass also means a lot less light into the van....
...Have you been in one ? its no diferent to tinted glass on any vehicle and the glass gives insualation no steaming up,and glass is better than scratchy plastic,and LV plastic windows are probably made in Holland as the majority of plastic windows are
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BoleroBoy I have had 6 AS motorhomes over the years and you can get condensation on plastic double glazed windows of most if not all makes.
The dark glass on modern AS PVC vans gives good light inside with increased privacy. Good heat retention and minimal condensation, if any.
As commented by JVB66 no problems with scratching they retain their good looks unlike plastic.
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yes, been in a few at various shows, dealers....not for too long though...too old for me, and im in my 7th decade
i think they are dark inside, and single glazing wont retain the heat like decent Seitz windows do...the athermic design is used to keep heat out, not in.
only going from my own readings of the many in depth tests i read....not CC mag, of course....
the 'glass' makes the van look 'cool' from the outside (if AS can do 'cool') rather than go for performance.....form over function from AS, IMHO.
black windows (which can get scratched like any others) dont necessarily make a good MH....
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Thats good as i can keep warm with the heating but keeping cool in hotter temps is even better,but as quoted its people perceptions, and for build quality and after sales service AS are hard to beat, the PVCs have a look that is quality from outside to inside,and quality beats "fads" hands down in my book,
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Thats good as i can keep warm with the heating but keeping cool in hotter temps is even better,but as quoted its people perceptions, and for build quality and after sales service AS are hard to beat, the PVCs have a look that is quality from outside to inside,and
quality beats "fads" hands down in my book,yes, thats what i said, they have a quality 'look'.....but thats as far as it goes for me....
we all have different definitions of 'quality' and IMO for example, a comparable Knaus or equivalent is far better 'built'.
also, i reckon AS are over very much over priced....for instance a Corinium on a Peugeot 'heavy' chassis (pretty well mandatory) is £68.5k.....thats an horrendous price for an fairly average low profile MH..
..you can get a nice A-class Mobilvetta from Marquis instead and have enough left over for nice 'quality' cruise for two....
...but, its only my opinion and everyone else is perfectly entitled to theirs....and at the end of the day, K can make his own mind up about the van (and the brand) he wants.
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Glad to hear you will be able to get touring again K. We changed 3 years ago from a caavan to a motorhome and love it. We bought our van in January and managed to get a good deal as it was a quiet period for the dealers. We sold our caravan privately so
no trade in to woory about. Good luck with the search0 -
A question before I start looking at M/Vans. The one heating I am unfamiliar with is Eberspacher or Webasto diesel heaters. I notice on the manufacturers webpages some of the smaller vans are equipped with diesel heaters, instead of gas ones.
Are they efficient ? and most important, when running are they noisy, ? Can they be heard either inside or outside the van.
K
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K, another important point with diesel heaters is that they take a large amount of battery power to get them started and, as the flame doesnt remain ignited when the themostat cuts in (li,e a gas heater does) the whole process starts again every time.
might not be an issue in hook up but could be tricky in winter off EHU and the battery is a bit dicky.....
however, advantage is that you can get fuel (diesel) anywhere.
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A question before I start looking at M/Vans. The one heating I am unfamiliar with is
Eberspacher or Webasto diesel heaters. I notice on the manufacturers webpages some of the smaller vans are equipped with diesel heaters, instead of gas ones.Are they efficient ? and most important, when running are they noisy, ? Can they be heard either inside or outside the van.
K
The diesel heaters are very noisy, we had one parked 3 pitches to the right and across from us in Spain and it sent us daft everytime they put it on for hot water (they showered in the van) really noisy fan, glad we weren't straight across from us as they
were nose out.As BB says the good thing about them is diesel can be got anywhere so for the fulltimers and wild campers they are good to have. With a solar panel and refillable gas there is not much differance except the sound of silence
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We have eberspacher in our "Fifer" It is very efficient (in thev sense of space and water heating quickly and the output is more than sufficient. In our 4.5 years (32K miles) of use we have had no problems. We cant discern how much diesel it uses albeit
we have only camped for short periods in winter but with a PVC a 1kw fan heater is all you need for space heating. Noise yes it does go bang bang bang as the diesel ignites. We don't find the noise intrusive in the van indeed a bit reassuring. The is a silencer
on the output and I don't think it makes that much noise outside either0 -
I had an Eberspacher on my last yacht. I used to run it during the winter when working inside the boat. Would raise the temperature from a couple of degrees above freezing to 10C in a 31ft boat in just over an hour. Quiet enough inside the boat but you could
hear it outside but unless right next to the exhaust, it was hardly intrusive. The degree of perceived intrusion would depend on the surrounding noise level.0 -
We were once moored next to a yacht with an Eberspacher. They had young children on board who woke up early in the morning, so the thing was running from 5.45 am. It was impossible to stay asleep as the thing made so much racket.
Good luck with your search for a new MH. Two things we've learned from having three MHs are, comfy beds are essential and your seating area has to be comfortable, both in the cab and the saloon. Our third MH is a Laika and we like it very much indeed.
I recommend the dealer Southdown Motorhomes in Portsmouth.0
